OPERA America draws on resources and expertise from within and beyond the opera field to advance a mutually beneficial agenda that serves and strengthens the field through programs in the following categories:

Creation: Artistic services that help artists and companies increase the creativity and excellence of opera productions, especially North American works;

Presentation: Opera company services that address the specific needs of staff, trustees and volunteers;

Enjoyment: Education, audience development and community services that increase all forms of opera appreciation.

New York City is home to the nation’s largest concentration of performing and creative artists, professional training institutions and music businesses. A majority of OPERA America’s Professional Company Members hold or attend auditions in New York City annually, and opera leaders from Europe and around the world are regular visitors.

In response to the pressing need for appropriate space in New York by members who suffered from the lack of good audition and work facilities in the city, OPERA America created the National Opera Center. The Opera Center serves many functions that support the artistic and economic vitality of the field by providing its constituents with a range and level of services never before possible.

OPERA America serves the entire opera field through research, publications and services. We work daily to facilitate the creation, performance and enjoyment of opera throughout North America. Much of what we do is made possible through generous contributions from opera lovers like you.

Original Content • 1/1/2010The Civil Rights Movement, as we know it today, can be traced back to July 26, 1948, with the signing of Executive Order 9981 by President Harry S. Truman, which desegregated the American armed forces. In the 1950s and 60s, key events and individuals including Brown v. Board of Education, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advanced the movement. In 2010, opera companies throughout the U.S. will continue to celebrate African-American history, honor the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement and commemorate the reform movement itself with new commissions and special events.

Kentucky Opera studio artists will work with the Louisville Orchestra on a celebratory concert for Dr. King on January 15, the day on which he would have turned 81. Additionally, the company commissioned a new work by local composer Harry Pickens, celebrating President Barack Obama, called Chorus of Hope. The work will premiere at a free event on January 17 at St. Stephen Church, the largest primarily African-American church in Louisville. These events not only serve cultural needs, but they also provided Kentucky Opera with an opportunity to collaborate with orchestra, theater, drum corps and other community partners. "In essence," says Director of Education Deanna R. Hoying, "the community will have a new structure to celebrate Dr. King produced by Kentucky Opera, with performances ranging from opera to drums, to children and adult choirs, dancers and musicians. It meets a lot of needs in the community, as well as for us to become more a part of the fabric of Louisville."

Voices • 1/1/1900As young singers await their big career opportunities, they may lose sight of the opportunities they have now to practice their craft and share generously with audiences. Young singers often forget the most important part of being an artist — connecting their humanity to the music and to their audiences.

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Opera America Magazine • 1/1/1900The long-dominant model of what defines a performing artist's career is undergoing a rapid paradigm shift. Teaching artists are poised to replace the divas of stereotype with a new approach to the art of performance — both on and off stage.

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Voices • 1/1/1900When you are hired to sing at an opera company, singing your best is certainly a priority, but not your only consideration. In this volume of Voices, our series highlights expert advice on various components of working well with the company who hires you. Our last issue focused on the relationship between you — the singer — and stage management. This issue's article looks at the relationship between you and the company's education department.

Opera America Magazine • 1/1/1900Those who aspire to a career in law attend law school; those who aspire
to a career in medicine attend medical school. Legendary leaders in the
opera field have taken a variety of paths to their professional destinations
— destinations that were, for some, unexpected. Whether they entered
the field as stagehands or sopranos, most of these successful leaders
have shown a knack for managing their own education, often identifying
and seizing learning opportunities in the most unlikely situations.

Until fairly recently, few of opera's senior managers had formal academic
training in management. As more and more colleges and universities offer
study in the business of the arts, aspiring and established arts managers
are increasingly taking advantage of them. However, there appears to be
no consensus on a single "best way" to acquire the myriad skills it takes
to run an opera company — or a department within one. Interviews with
a number of senior managers within the opera field revealed a variety of
approaches to managing one's education — both inside and outside the
classroom.

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Voices • 1/1/1900At the recent convention of National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) a number of experts from across the field gathered to answer questions about the business of singing. The panel included Susan Ashbaker, director of musical and artistic administration, Opera Company of Philadelphia; Diana Hossack, artistic services director, OPERA America; Donald Nally, chorus master, Opera Company of Philadelphia; Stanford Olsen, tenor; Charlotte Schroeder, artist manager, Colbert Artists Management; and Karen Tiller, general director, Opera Festival of New Jersey. The panel was moderated by Laura Brooks Rice, singer and associate professor, Westminster Choir College. In an effort to share the insightful conversation that took place, we offer this excerpt.

EducationLink • 2/20/2007Chicago Opera Theater (COT) offers a broad range of educational enrichment for all ages. Students in primary grades through high school benefit from COT’s Opera for All program in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). What makes COT’s Opera for All unique is its year-long presence and participatory emphasis. In the past seven years a team of teaching fellows has taught classes in opera, theater, voice, chorus, and violin to over 3,000 CPS students. Classes are taught weekly within the school day and culminate in a student-based opera production starring both children and COT Young Artists.

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EducationLink • 4/16/2007Opera Cleveland isn't the only opera in town! Travel south on I-71 a little way, hang a left on Route 303 and you'll come upon Hinckley Elementary School. You may be scratching your head at this point, but yes, as music teacher Michael McClintock stated, "We are no longer Hinckley Elementary, we're The Scientific Opera Company of Hinckley."

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EducationLink • 5/21/2007"We're just gonna stare at a rock all day?" demanded Matthew, a second grader at Carlos Gilbert Elementary. The offending rock is a granite memorial perched atop a hill that looks out over modern-day Santa Fe and its low-lying adobe buildings and churches. The memorial commemorates the 4,555 Japanese men who were interned at Camp Santa Fe from 1942 until 1946.

EducationLink • 7/16/2007During the last week in June, Indianapolis Opera presented their summer professional development workshop for teachers, designed around OPERA America's MUSIC! WORDS! OPERA! (M!W!O!) curriculum. The M!W!O! curriculum, written for grades K-12, introduces the conventions of opera through the study of an operatic masterpiece and gives students the tools to create and present their own original opera. But this particular week-long workshop was in no way typical — Patty Harvey, Indianapolis Opera's education director developed a unique collaboration with the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) that enhanced the teachers' study of opera while introducing them to new teaching techniques.

EducationLink • 8/20/2007When it comes to a Mozart opera, the complicated plans of the characters are a tea party compared to the actual execution of a stage production. Throw in two casts at two schools separated by an ocean, and you can begin to guess the challenges faced by the University of Louisville Opera Theatre as they mount a collaborative production of Le nozze di Figaro with the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland.

EducationLink • 9/17/2007"The principal was really blown away when she found out that I sang in a production with a major operatic artist!"

"My sponsor teacher loved the study guide I helped create in class and we devised a similar one I used for student teaching."

"I think what sealed the deal for me [high school music teaching job] was the fact that I had worked on so many productions and knew how to build sets, costumes and stage manage full-scale productions."

These are a few of the comments from undergraduate students who participated in The Crane Opera Ensemble's premiere of The Sailor-Boy and the Falcon, an opera composed by Paul Siskind to a libretto by Alan Steinberg, based on The Sailor-boy's Tale, a short story by Isak Dinesen. The November 2006 performances featured professional mezzo-soprano and alumna Stephanie Blythe, singing with students of The Crane Opera Ensemble and Orchestra at The State University of New York-Potsdam (SUNY-Potsdam).

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EducationLink • 10/15/2007Opera education directors will often limit themselves to creating programs as funds become available. If your education programs are good (and we're sure they are!), find ways to be proactive about finding funds, within the organization or from outside.

EducationLink • 11/19/2007The best ideas arrive on butterfly wings; they alight for a moment and then they are gone, unless they are captured, thought about, mulled over. They are not sharply defined at first; rather, they take shape gradually. They don't always bend to the will of the captor; instead they escape, fluttering and sometimes soaring above. They don't always bend to the will of the captor; instead they escape, fluttering and sometimes soaring above. HGOco, Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) new initiative for creating partnerships within the community; Song of Houston, HGOco's ongoing project to tell Houstonians' own stories in music and words; and The Refuge, the first work in the Song of Houston project all began with a flutter, but they have already taken HGO in directions the company never dreamed.

EducationLink • 12/17/2007The idea of opera as an inclusive art form is not a new one. Opera touches on several aspects of the performing arts, and can be a very powerful tool when integrated with scholastic curriculum. So how exactly can you successfully align opera with other content areas?

EducationLink • 1/21/2008The field of education and outreach within the world of opera is a rich landscape of companies with ties to their communities, education, teaching artistry and advancement of all kinds. For those who have an interest in creating or improving their programs, read on and learn about what some our members are doing.

EducationLink • 2/18/2008In 1976, February was declared to be Black History Month in order to celebrate and honor the history and contributions of African-Americans. Opera companies all around the country have focused works and programs around this commemoration.

EducationLink • 3/17/2008As technology and the Internet become more enmeshed in everyday life, new developments have been coupled with education initiatives. Arts organizations and opera presenters are adopting and integrating new trends, as well as expanding current uses of technology, to fulfill their missions.

EducationLink • 4/21/2008Composers have paid tribute to significant people and events through their operas, and companies have produced the works to educate audiences about history while entertaining them. Various works include John Adams’s Nixon in China, Adolphus Hailstork’s Rise for Freedom: The John P. Parker Story, Philip Glass’s Appomattox and Virgil Thompson’s The Mother of Us All. Other topics recent works have focused on are World War II composers and victims of the Holocaust.

EducationLink • 5/19/2008Soprano Angela Brown's voice is not her only asset — she is a tremendous advocate for diversity within opera. Her program, Opera from a Sistah's Point of View, is the result of her sincere desire to bring opera and classical vocal performance to diverse audiences. She has shared her program with schools, churches and civic organizations around the country, and through opera companies' education initiatives. JEJ Artists's Janet Jarriel recently conversed with Brown about the topic.

EducationLink • 6/16/2008Most composers write music for young people at some point, and authors and poets also write for that audience, yet the Cornish poet Charles Causley said there was no such thing as "children's" poetry. Writer Philip Pullman, who came to prominence through the Whitbread Prize, startled critics as a "children's" author succeeding in an adult world. Pullman barely recognizes that there is a divide — "Children deserve the best," he says.

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EducationLink • 7/21/2008This year, OPERA America's 38th Annual Conference was held in Denver, CO. The Conference, which took place within and beside the second National Performing Arts Convention (NPAC), was an enormous week of events and activities. For a complete list of the sessions and panelists discussed below, please visit operaamerica.org and download the program book.

EducationLink • 8/18/2008Since the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, arts educators from all backgrounds have experienced a reduction in the amount of time spent with their students. In fact, 30% of school districts with at least one identified school — those with students most responsive to the benefits of the arts — have decreased instructional time for art and music, according to Choices, Changes, and Challenges: Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era from the Center for Education Policy. For those who service the field of education through the arts, this has required some creativity on how to make better and more significant use of their time with students.

EducationLink • 9/15/2008Opera Pacific's mainstage productions, extensive community outreach programs and energetic Guild Alliance combine to create a cultural resource for all of Southern California. More than 670,000 people have enjoyed Opera Pacific's productions at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, while over 575,000 young people have discovered the world of opera through the company's in-school presentations, student previews and nationally-recognized Opera Camp.

EducationLink • 10/20/2008I think the best way to begin is to tell a story.

I had fallen in love with opera. Late. By mistake. Because of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha. And because of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach. And then Marc Blitzstein's Regina. It took some time to venture in and love the classics. In the beginning, it was the excitement of recognition, or being delighted to sing along or of being stunned by a work that broke all expectations. But as I was drawn in, I found it was hard to bring my friends with me. People didn't want to come. What was wrong with this picture? Were the people wrong? Or was the art form not speaking to the people?

Making Connections • 10/29/2008 Engaging new audiences and reaching out to your local community are important parts of being an artist. Hear from panelists who:
• Created performing opportunities
• Helped other organizations through fundraising and benefit concerts
• Performed in unique venues to reach a wider market

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EducationLink • 11/17/2008Opera companies throughout North America produce rewarding educational opportunities for local schools and their communities. The same companies often introduce these audiences to opera — if not the arts as a whole — for the first time. With so many varied programs, it sometimes helps to take a step back and see the big picture of opera's potential in education and community programming.

EducationLink • 12/15/2008It's the time of year when thoughts are focused on humanity, kindness, giving, family and — of course — music! An essential part of the holidays, music can be heard almost everywhere. While everyone has their holiday music of choice, for opera listeners that choice is often Amahl and the Night Visitors

EducationLink • 1/19/2009The arts play a vital role in celebrating and educating people about African-American history. This year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting an exhibit, Provocative Visions: Race and Identity. The University of Denver’s Lamont Symphony Orchestra will participate in the program, Dream, celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., including a performance by singer Denyse Graves. Additionally, this year's tribute to African-American history is deeper due to the election of the first African-American president. 2008 was a pivotal moment in the history of not only our country, but Black culture.

EducationLink • 3/16/2009With the fundraising climate at its worst since 1998 (according to a December 2008 report by Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy), how can community arts education (CAE) organizations best meet the challenges of the economic downturn?

EducationLink • 4/20/2009As the leader in conducting research and analyses for the field of opera, OPERA America produces annual benchmarking surveys that examine every aspect of the field, from finance to upcoming repertoire. The Opera Education Survey Report focuses on the educational activities of OPERA America’s Professional Company Members.

EducationLink • 5/18/2009While planning for this year’s annual Opera Conference, something unexpected happened — the economy turned upside down. The next few months brought news of closing companies, reductions in productions, staff layoffs and a swath of other issues. Prior to this, OPERA America had chosen the theme Making Opera Matter, which was fitting and helped respond to the field.

EducationLink • 6/15/2009Last month, EducationLink summarized activities at Opera Conference 2009. The theme, Making Opera Matter, was especially relevant for education staff at opera companies, as much of the focus was on expanding educational initiatives to engage communities.

Opera America Magazine • 7/1/2009In some cities, collaboration means local opera patrons experience a greater range of repertoire than they might otherwise. Opera Company of Philadelphia has developed a partnership with The Curtis Institute of Music to co-present one production each season, beginning with Golijov's Ainadamar in 2008. "We have always had a very strong relationship with Curtis," says David B. Devan, executive director of Opera Company of Philadelphia. "We learned there were certain pieces they wanted to produce for their singers, but the school didn't have the resources. It dawned on me that conservatories don't have a lot of marketing horsepower, but we were in a position to provide them with a substantially larger audience. We came up with an arrangement whereby Curtis would produce the show and we would market it as part of our season and then hand over the revenue, allowing them to pay their bills."

Opera America Magazine • 7/1/2009Singers with dramatic voices — those who will someday sing heavy Verdi and Wagner roles — present a special challenge for both academic and professional training programs. At meetings of OPERA America's Singer Training Forum, challenges related to the nurturing of these rare artists are a frequent topic of conversation.

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EducationLink • 7/20/2009Education stakeholders have long been aware of how crucial evaluation is to the success of programming. In the age of testing and assessment, arts educators should know this better than most, especially when the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in arts and music, The Nation’s Report Card: Arts 2008 Music & Visual Arts, showed marginal student achievement.

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Opera America Magazine • 9/1/2009A lot is happening as OPERA America heads into its 40th year, including a virtual facelift. A new Web site design puts OPERA America’s wealth of existing resources, along with some new additions, at the fingertips of its members in a format that is easy to navigate.

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Opera America Magazine • 9/1/2009So, you're at an opera company. Perhaps you're director of education, or chair of the education committee or even general director, and you're wondering what, if anything, your K-12 education programs could or should be doing differently to connect to and address key issues. You know the discourse on K-12 public education has changed dramatically in the past few years, but you're not exactly sure how your opera company's approach should change in response. What you read in the newspaper often seems worlds away from what you thought you knew about schools.

Opera America Magazine • 9/1/2009It all began about 1980, when Marthalie Furber, newly-appointed education director of OPERA America, conducted an environmental scan to discern what was going on in opera education throughout the country. Many of us already involved in company education departments knew of "create an opera" projects in different opera companies. Exciting things were happening in such locales as the Berkshires, San Diego, Tulsa and Tucson. Carroll Reinhart, a pioneer in the field of music education, had observed the work of a colleague in San Diego and began building from a number of creative processes to develop a methodology for children to create their own pieces of musical theater. He shared this with several opera professionals, including Henry Holt. Not long afterward, he was contacted by Marthalie Furber. The discussions began in earnest.

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Opera America Magazine • 9/1/2009Teach children to write operas? The idea may seem daunting, but the with help of OPERA America’s Music! Words! Opera! (M!W!O!) curriculum, teachers across the country have been doing just that for the last 20 years. M!W!O!’s intense five-day summer course provides teachers with the tools they need to build those operas.

EducationLink • 9/21/2009From opera creation to after-school programs, opera company education departments offer a wide array of initiatives. According to the most recent Opera Education Survey Report, the number of companies offering opera camps has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008, a surveyed constant sample group of companies that offered opera camps rose from 44% to 59%.

Opera camp activities have been part of Austin Lyric Opera's programming for the past eight years. The camps, hosted through ALO's Armstrong Community Music School, provide opportunities for roughly 100 students each year, ages five through 22. ALO offers a half-day summer camp for five- to seven-year-olds, camps for eight- to 12-year-olds and a week-long workshop for ages 14 to 22.

Original Content • 9/29/2009Seventeen years ago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City offered its first summer opera camp. The two-week camp is open to youth ages 10 through 18, but if a parent calls and discusses a child's musical interests and ability to focus, children as young as five years old can attend and participate.

On the first day of camp, the young people fill out a survey to show what they know about opera. Most first-time campers have neither seen nor sung in an opera and cannot answer the questions. We tell them that they do not need to worry if they can't answer the questions because, by the end of our first day, they will be able to show a lot more knowledge. We also have the campers take a "drop the needle" listening test. We play three excerpts of well-known arias and ask them to name the work, the composer, the language being sung, the character's name and what the character is singing about. Most of first-timers leave their paper totally blank. However, approximately 50 percent of the campers are returning from previous summers; they pass the test with flying colors, even though the test is different each year.

Original Content • 9/30/2009Most opera administrators working today probably did not enter college with the goal of working for a nonprofit arts organization someday. I know this was the case for me when I began studying voice as an undergraduate. In fact, I was unaware of arts administration as a field until, as a college senior, I was offered a chance to design some marketing materials for a production of Orpheus in the Underworld. By that point, I knew I lacked the same hunger for a performing career as some of my music school colleagues, but I'd retained my passion for opera as an art form and wanted to devote my energy to instilling the same passion in others.

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Original Content • 11/3/2009For singers pursuing operatic careers, young artist programs are essential to career development. The programs vary in level and length, and play a vital role in fostering a singer's talent and potential. Professional voice teachers are an integral part of the faculty/staff/training team in the young artist programs.

The voice teacher commonly addresses such issues as breath control, registration, laryngeal function, resonance adjustment and acoustical exactness, articulation of vowels, all of which promote free, efficient vocal production. Professionals also ensure that singers have proper physiological coordination within the mechanisms that produce vocal sound. As a budding mezzo-soprano commented: “What makes voice teachers a distinct and essential part of a young artist program is their vested interest in our longevity as singers, and they generally have skills to teach ways in which we can extend our vocal life by means of warm-ups and technical adjustments." The preferred role of a voice teacher is not to change an established singer's technique, particularly in a short period of time. According to one young tenor, “the primary role of a young artist program voice teacher is to combine the skills of critical listening, technical knowledge of the voice and instructive abilities to help maintain a healthy singing voice." To achieve healthy singing, teachers must decide whether to delve into technical considerations or work in a flexible manner with the singer's established method of tonal production.

Original Content • 12/3/2009About three years ago, Steve Ryan, director of production for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis called me and asked if I would be interested in working on a new production of Brundibar for their education department. The previous production had a lot of scenery he said, and he was looking to make something that would be more portable.

I was immediately interested. For decades I have been trying to encourage the use of projections for educational theatrical use: Once created, productions can be easily remounted and require virtually no storage. When I looked at a tape of the previous production I understood the real issue with Brundibar for education was twofold. On one hand, opera companies are looking to introduce young people to the beauty of opera with the hope of instilling at least curiosity about the art form, and at the same time they are using Brundibar to teach the history of the Holocaust. Brundibar is a musical fable most famous for being played and sung by the Jewish children interned in the Terezin concentration camp. The subject matter — two children in need of money to buy milk for their sick mother, who triumph over the organ grinder Brundibar — does not neatly illuminate the struggle in the camps, but the idea of any kind of triumph must have been mighty appealing for the inmates, who also were allowed to remove their yellow stars in performance.

Original Content • 12/3/2009In the midst of the holiday frenzy, the music that accompanies the festive season provides a happy and sometimes nostalgic respite. The holidays will come and go in the next three weeks, but good art will outlast the more prosaic parts of the season. As opera companies close out 2009 with productions and community events geared to the festive season, families and audiences have ample opportunity to add opera to their celebrations.

Original Content • 1/1/2010The Civil Rights Movement, as we know it today, can be traced back to July 26, 1948, with the signing of Executive Order 9981 by President Harry S. Truman, which desegregated the American armed forces. In the 1950s and 60s, key events and individuals including Brown v. Board of Education, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. advanced the movement. In 2010, opera companies throughout the U.S. will continue to celebrate African-American history, honor the activists involved in the Civil Rights Movement and commemorate the reform movement itself with new commissions and special events.

Kentucky Opera studio artists will work with the Louisville Orchestra on a celebratory concert for Dr. King on January 15, the day on which he would have turned 81. Additionally, the company commissioned a new work by local composer Harry Pickens, celebrating President Barack Obama, called Chorus of Hope. The work will premiere at a free event on January 17 at St. Stephen Church, the largest primarily African-American church in Louisville. These events not only serve cultural needs, but they also provided Kentucky Opera with an opportunity to collaborate with orchestra, theater, drum corps and other community partners. "In essence," says Director of Education Deanna R. Hoying, "the community will have a new structure to celebrate Dr. King produced by Kentucky Opera, with performances ranging from opera to drums, to children and adult choirs, dancers and musicians. It meets a lot of needs in the community, as well as for us to become more a part of the fabric of Louisville."

Original Content • 1/29/2010As the largest annual funder of the arts, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), has a long history with opera. Since its inception in 1965, the NEA has made more than 4,500 grants to opera companies, artists and organizations, totaling nearly $167 million. Many of these grants have assisted the creation or implementation of education, community and outreach programs. Throughout the past year, the NEA has made grant investments totaling nearly $2.1 million in support of opera projects, through two of the NEA's grant categories: Access to Artistic Excellence (AAE) and Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth (LITA).

Of the 62 AAE grants awarded in FY2010, more than half supported educational opportunities such as a lectures, in-school presentations, young artist programs or community events. For instance, Des Moines Metro Opera's educational touring troupe, Opera Iowa, will travel to over 70 schools presenting age-appropriate workshops and one-act operas. The Atlanta Opera will develop a program tailored for middle and high school students at area schools, as well as an educational touring production based on Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. A March spring break opera camp will be offered by Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Original Content • 2/23/2010There are two things to worry about with copyrights: protecting original material that your organization has created, and making sure that your organization isn't improperly using material that someone else owns. Blue Avocado asked copyright attorney Kate Spelman to help with these issues, and she generously gave all her expertise and time.

Kate Spelman is an attorney at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley, CA, with a national and international practice in copyright law. She has worked for Fortune 500 companies, as well as many nonprofits. She is a board member of the American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation.

Original Content • 3/3/2010In working with both the Technical/Production and Singer Training Forums, I was lucky enough to be taken on a “virtual tour” of the newly updated OPERA America Web site. Twice. The second time around, I was able to take note of the moments where my colleagues’ attention seemed to wander and asked, “What do I need to point up to get everyone engaged when I take this information back to school?” Here are 10 easy ways to get your students, staff and faculty to utilize the great resources on the OPERA America Web site.

Original Content • 4/5/2010At OPERA America, we love books. In our office, we have a huge library full of them with titles ranging from the studious (e.g. Schoenberg's Fundamentals of Musical Composition) to the salacious (The Private Lives of the Three Tenors, anyone?). Yes, we know we can download books to our e-readers, subscribe to just about everything via RSS and absorb today's news from our smart phones, but to many of us there's nothing like pulling a well-worn paperback out for a good read. Call us old-fashioned.

In light of our collective bibliophilia, OPERA America staff members, along with constituents of the Singer Training Forum steering committee, put together a suggested reading list for singers. Some choices are highly-specialized books for singers; others are less obviously connected to the art of singing, but provide rich fodder for thought. The books have been separated into categories for easy navigation, but note that some selections may be appropriate to more than one category.

The reading list is not a definitive list, but rather a starting point. As always, we encourage you to seek the advice of your personal network (teachers, coaches, professional contacts) in considering other important resources and areas of study. Happy reading!

Thank you to Ann Baltz of OperaWorks, Laura Brooks Rice of Westminster Choir College/CoOPERAtive Program and Kelley Rourke for contributing their favorite books to this list.

Original Content • 4/6/2010The most recent Opera Education Survey Report (2008) reported that opera companies are devoting less time and resources to teen audiences. This survey found that grades 6-8 represented 5% of education audiences, while grades 9-12 comprised 8%. In 2006, the survey found the same audiences were 12% and 9%, respectively. There is consensus in the field that it is a challenge to reach teen audiences for many reasons. "In general," says Fort Worth Opera Education Director Clyde Berry, "teens are the trickiest audience because you have to justify why anything you want them to know is important. If you can't make it relevant to them with real-world connections, then they're not going to 'buy' it."

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Original Content • 9/1/2010What is the best way for teachers to be evaluated? A loaded question, indeed. Evaluating someone's performance is always tricky. It has become even more so in education where public discussions of new forms of teacher evaluations are often introduced in the context of developing a tool to fire educators.

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Original Content • 10/1/2010Nine years after the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) garnered bipartisan support in Congress, the legislation officially known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is up for reauthorization. For many educators frustrated with how NCLB reshaped the classroom experience, this has been a long wait.

In March, with the release of the Obama administration's road map for revamping ESEA, A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary School Act (the blueprint), the U.S. Department of Education outlined its proposal for overhauling the law.